Troy Matteson turned in his 5-iron for a fishing rod Wednesday and promptly reeled in - and proudly posed with - a 150-pound bluefin tuna.
(Photo Courtesy of Troy Matteson)
DEUTSCHE BANK NOTEBOOK
On offday, something fishy
Troy Matteson turned in his 5-iron for a fishing rod Wednesday and promptly reeled in - and proudly posed with - a 150-pound bluefin tuna.
(Photo Courtesy of Troy Matteson)
NORTON - A first-round 66, especially when he’s trying to play his way into next week’s tournament? That was nice, sure, but Troy Matteson preferred talking about the 150-pound bluefin tuna he caught Wednesday afternoon off Hyannis.
Matteson spent a few hours with two friends on the water, and landed the first bluefin tuna of his burgeoning fishing career, calling it a tossup between what was more exciting: catching the fish or posting a 5-under round.
“It was fun for me because I’m not used to seeing really big fish, 300- or 400-pounders, big and mean,’’ Matteson said. “We hooked up on five total, and believe it or not, that last one, we got it in a little under 10 minutes.’’
Matteson lives near Atlanta, and has a lot of hunting and fishing in his background. He’s 83d on the
“It’s an added bonus to play good golf and get to fish in the same week,’’ Matteson said. “We can’t do that too many places. It’s one of the reasons why I love coming up here.’’
Odd man out
He might have been viewed by others as the third wheel in a group that included Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, but Heath Slocum didn’t feel like it, and didn’t play like it. Slocum shot 69, a stroke better than Woods, actually, and was thrilled to shoot under par on a day when he didn’t have his “A’’ game.“I survived. I’m really happy to be at 2 under, let’s put it that way. It wasn’t my best golf,’’ said Slocum, who won The Barclays last week and leaped from No. 124 to No. 3 on the FedEx Cup points list, behind Woods and Stricker. He holed a bunker shot on No. 4 yesterday for eagle.
By Slocum’s recollection, it was the first time he had been paired with Woods since the Mercedes Championship in 2005.
“He’s very easy to play with. Has a good pace to him, good conversation, and you’re going to see some good shots,’’ Slocum said. “I know he didn’t play his best today, either. The two of us were just trying to ride Strick’s coattails.’’
Gotta support the team
Woods typically wears a red shirt on Sunday for the final round. It’s one day and two rounds early, but Woods is expected to break out the red shirt today. As part of Nike’s recognition of the start to college football season, Woods and other A wild . . .
Hunter Mahan had a wild ride for his first round. He was 6 over after his first seven holes, then made five birdies over the next nine to get back to 1 over. Mahan pulled his tee shot on the par-3 eighth hole into the fescue, which led to a double bogey, then birdied No. 9 to close his up-and-down round. The final tally: six birdies, four bogeys, and two doubles for a 2-over 73.. . . and crazy guy
Greg Chalmers (94th on the FedEx Cup points list), Scott Piercy (96th), and Daniel Chopra (100th) made early appearances on the leaderboard with 4-under 67s. Chalmers and Piercy were in the first group off the 10th tee at 7:40 a.m. With only the top 70 advancing to next week, Chalmers’s mind-set was a little wild. “Just go out there and see if I can do something crazy,’’ said Chalmers, who did just that with an eagle on the par-5 second hole. “I can only go forward.’’Phil putters around
Playing in his 400th PGA Tour tournament, Phil Mickelson opened with a 71, which included a four-putt double bogey on the par-4 ninth hole. Mickelson committed yesterday to the BMW Championship . . . D.J. Trahan ran hot at the end of his round. Bogey-free through 16 holes, Trahan failed to save his par on the par-3 eighth after bunkering his tee shot, and rifled the ball into the swamp after picking it out of the hole. He pulled his drive on the next hole into the heavy rough, slapping his thigh with his right hand. That also led to bogey, and a 71 . . . The par-4 fourth hole played 298 yards yesterday, and yielded seven eagles, most for the round. It played as the second-easiest hole on the day, at 3.48 . . . Only seven birdies were made on the 466-yard fifth, which was the toughest at 4.18.Jim Hoban of the Globe staff contributed to this report; Michael Whitmer can be reached at mwhitmer@globe.com 
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